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Nikkei 225 stock index ends 2014 with advance of over 7%
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TOKYO’S Nikkei 225 stock index climbed more than 7 percent in 2014, ending yesterday near its highest levels since before the global financial crisis struck.
The rise adds to a 57 percent surge in 2013 — its best annual return in four decades — as the Bank of Japan’s monetary easing blitz sharply weakened the yen, a plus for exporters such as Toyota and Sony.
On the year’s last trading day yesterday the Nikkei 225 declined 1.57 percent on profit-taking, losing 279.07 points to close at 17,450.77.
The broader Topix index of all first-section shares gained 8.07 percent over the year to finish at 1,407.51.
Analysts were generally upbeat on the prospects for the Japanese market in 2015. But geopolitical issues — including political turmoil in Greece — and an uncertain outlook for the world’s No. 3 economy threaten to limit further gains.
The Nikkei struggled at the start of the year, but a fresh round of BOJ monetary easing in late October pushed the yen even lower.
The national pension fund — the world’s biggest — said it would shift more of its portfolio into stocks, giving the flagging market a boost.
Tokyo’s plan to cut corporate tax rates, confirmed yesterday; a fresh US$29 billion fiscal stimulus plan; and speculation over even more BOJ easing could help lift the market further, analysts said.
The market also welcomed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s move to delay a second sales tax rise set for 2015, after a levy increase in April slammed the brakes on growth and pushed Japan into recession.
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